LETTER: Urbanisation in middle of gap

Should have gone to Spec Savers was my first thought when reading Colin Cloy’s letter of January 26, regarding Horsham Football Club’s proposal.

In it he states that he could hardly see a resident within quarter of a mile when he recently played at Horsham Golf and Fitness. I’m not sure where Mr Cloy was, but it certainly wasn’t the Denne Park course, as to get to the club house he has to drive past three properties, which granted are quite hidden when driving to site but quite visible once you’re playing golf!

Though Mr Cloy states he has lived on the Worthing Road for nearly 32 years he obviously doesn’t know the area very well.

He talks a lot about lighting at Hop Oast and the Park and Ride, but if he was to venture a little further along the road and look on the opposite side, to where HFC actually want to plant their major development, all he will see, through the sparse ancient woodland, is a pleasant glow of low level lights from the driving range.

If he then continued a little further along he would find himself in total darkness, as the road is totally unlit. To say that ten floodlights on a virtually pitch black site won’t have any affect on the local community is a complete fallacy .

The urbanising affect this monstrosity will have on the listed buildings at Denne Park will be irreversible and lead to coalescence right in the middle of the gap between Southwater and Horsham. Not to mention the harm it will do to the local bat population that reside in the ancient woodland and whose numbers have significantly increased in the last two years.

The area is not in the local plan and as such is protected by many countryside policies, which together with the poor access by foot and bicycle is the reason why it was turned down last time.

It was nothing to do with the size of the club house or the height of the floodlights.

The developer wants nothing more than to build on sports fields in North Horsham with a pitiful offering of 24 per cent affordable housing - that never gets mentioned in any article.

Let’s hope the councillors see through this charade.

R. Duncan

Denne Park, Horsham

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